NEWS

Free stress management webinar

What is stress? Why is it important?
Watch this free 2 part webinar conducted by IPS Psychologist Danielle Buckley and learn how to effectively manage stress.

The webinar will cover a range of topics such as What is sress? The different stages of stress? Is stress necessary in our lives? It also explores tips and techniques to help you stress less and how to best manage your stress.

The webinars can be viewed by clicking on the links below:

View IPS Stress Management Webinar Part 1 here >>

View IPS Stress Management Webinar Part 2 here >>

NEWS

How to recruit and retain staff in a shifting economy

The face of employee relations is changing. It’s post financial crisis and as the world economy picks itself up and makes ready for recovery, employers now face the prospect of an unsettled workforce, looking for payback after sacrifices made while weathering the crisis.

The Global Financial Crisis saw many staff stoically take on reduced hours and even voluntary unpaid leave. Now with their loyalty clearly displayed, employees are ready for something in return. Expectations have now been set at a different level.

Flexibility of workplace arrangements were a way to reduce staff costs, however employees are looking to continue arrangements that bought better work life balance such as working from home. There is also an expectation of salary review and if not given, employees are willing to up and leave for better prospects. Jon Williams, partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers calls this “the great bed hop.”

According to Grahame Doyle director of Hays recruitment firm, companies are also starting to review their salary arrangements. “We’re seeing people announce salary reviews. A lot of businesses put this on hold but are now looking at salaries again,” he says.

When staff receive offers of employment from other firms, there is now a trend for many businesses to make a counter offer. However according to Doyle, “making counter offers is much more expensive than proactive strategies, we’re seeing firms pay increases of up to 20 percent in counter offer situations,”

“Our advice to companies is to talk to employees to ensure what you’re offering is competitive in the market. Because once one staff member engages a firm in a counter offer situation other employees usually start to use the same strategy,” he says.
Nicky Wakefield, Deloitte human capital partner, agrees. She coins it ‘re-recruiting’ existing talent. “The focus should be on engaging existing staff to keep people in the business performing.” Wakefield says firms should do this by providing strong leadership. You generate true loyalty through connectivity, relationships and giving staff recognition.”

While she acknowledges it’s important to offer competitive salaries, Wakefield cautions against overemphasising salaries. “Organisations that look to solve talent problems financially will fail. Things like trust, substance, authenticity and flexibility are disproportionately much more important than salaries,” she proposes.

As we move into economic recover mode, experts are expecting the demand for talented workers to increase and businesses will have to be innovative and competitive when recruiting staff.

Recruitment programs put in place now should encompass flexible working arrangements, staff recognition and proactive salary reviews. When the time comes for business to surge ahead, these strategies will ensure your company has the right people on board.

NEWS

Fruit and Veg – not as good a cancer fighter as thought

Good for general health yes! Good enough to ward off cancer..no! A recent study conducted by Mount Sinai Medical Centre, New York found that eating lots of fruit and veg has a minimal effect on keeping cancer at bay.

Eight years of data sourced from a major European investigation into the relationship between cancer risk and food, found that a high consumption of fruit and veg only have modest protection against cancer.

Nearly 470,000 volunteers over ten Western European countries were studied over a period between 1992 and 2000. The study found that an increase of 200 grams a day of fruit and veg, resulted in only a 3% reduction in cancer risk.

"The bottom line here is that, yes, we did find a protective effect of fruit and vegetable intake against cancer, but it is a smaller connection than previously thought," said Dr Paolo Buffets who led the team of doctors involved in the study.

The new study appears online in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, published by Britain’s Oxford University Press.